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The Political Issue between Great Britain and China regarding Hong Kong

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The Colony of Hong Kong comprises three aros:-

(a) The Island of Hong King, ceded outright to Creat

Britain by the Nanking Treaty of 1842.

(b) Part of the Kowloon peninaila opposite Hong Kong,

ceded outright by the Peking Convention of 1860.

(c) The New Territories, leased for 99 years by the

Peking Convention of 1898. They include part

2.

of the mainland and a mrber of islands in he

vicinity, of a total area of 405 square miles.

The reason for the lease of the New Territories,

as stated in the preamble to the convention, was that an

extension of Hong King territory was necessary for the

proper defence and protection of the Colony. What has

now become an equally important factor is that the main

water supply of Hong Kong is in the New Territorios.

In the course of the negotiations wich

preceded the abolition of extwaterritoriality in China,

the Chines Government, made a request for the rendition

of the New Territories. His Majesty's Goverment,

refused to consider this question in comme ion with

extraterritoriality but agreed that it might be discussed

with the Chinese Government after the war. Almost

certainly the Chinese Government will then face us with

the proposal that the Agreement of 1898 should be terminated

and that the area should revert to Chinese sovereignty.

4. At no time have the Chinese Government raised

the question of the statue of Hong Kong as a whole, but

it is generally recognised that their ultimate object

is the 'recover' of the whole Colony ceded to treat

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